Royal Navy Articles of War - 1757

The Articles of War were read publicly at the commissioning of new ships, at least once a month, usually when church was rigged on Sunday, when an offender's punishment warrant was read to the ship's company and at timely intervals by the Captain to the Ship's Company.

In
the British Navy during the age of sail, flogging was the most common of
all punishments. When a disciplinary
offence was committed by a member of the Ship's Company and was serious enough to warrrant more severe
punishment than the captain was authorised to award, notice of the offence would be forwarded to the Admiralty where
a 'Warrant Punishment' would be initiated and then sent back to the
ship or naval installation for reading and sentencing.

Warrant punishments
were 'read' publicly while the offender stood to attention in front of
the formally mustered ship's company, or if received on
board at an unusual hour in front of the fallen
in Duty Watch.

The Articles of War on board a Royal Navy ship matched the gravity of holy writ. It served as the law practiced upon His Majesty's Ships.

The Articles were originally established in the 1650s, amended in 1749 (by an act of Parliament) and again in 1757.

THE ARTICLES OF WAR
1757

All commanders, captains, and officers, in or belonging to
any of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war, shall cause the public
worship of Almighty God, according to the liturgy of the Church of
England established by law, to be solemnly, orderly and reverently
performed in their respective ships; and shall take care that
prayers and preaching, by the chaplains in holy orders of the
respective ships, be performed diligently; and that the Lord's day
be observed according to law.

All flag officers, and all persons in or belonging to His
Majesty's ships or vessels of war, being guilty of profane oaths,
cursings, execrations, drunkenness, uncleanness, or other scandalous
actions, in derogation of God's honour, and corruption of good
manners, shall incur such punishment as a court martial shall think
fit to impose, and as the nature and degree of their offence shall
deserve.

If any officer, mariner, soldier, or other person of the
fleet, shall give, hold, or entertain intelligence to or with any
enemy or rebel, without leave from the king's majesty, or the lord
high admiral, or the commissioners for executing the office of lord
high admiral, commander in chief, or his commanding officer, every
such person so offending, and being thereof convicted by the
sentence of a court martial, shall be punished with death.

If any letter of message from any enemy or rebel, be conveyed
to any officer, mariner, or soldier or other in the fleet, and the
said officer, mariner, or soldier, or other as aforesaid, shall not,
within twelve hours, having opportunity so to do, acquaint his
superior or a commanding officer, or if any superior officer being
acquainted therewith, shall not in convenient time reveal the same
to the commander in chief of the squadron, every such person so
offending, and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court
martial, shall be punished with death, or such other punishment as
the nature and degree of the offense shall deserve, and the court
martial shall impose.

All spies, and all persons whatsoever, who shall come, or be
found, in the nature of spies, to bring or deliver any seducing
letters or messages from any enemy or rebel, or endeavor to corrupt
any captain, officer, mariner, or other in the fleet, to betray his
trust, being convicted of any such offense by the sentence of the
court martial, shall be punished with death, or such other
punishment, as the nature and degree of the offence shall deserve,
and the court martial shall impose.

No person in the fleet shall receive an enemy or rebel with
money, victuals, powder, shot, arms, ammunition, or any other
supplies whatsoever, directly or indirectly, upon pain of death, or
such other punishment as the court martial shall think fit to
impose, and as the nature and degree of the crime shall deserve.

All the papers, charter parties, bills of lading, passports,
and other writings whatsoever, that shall be taken, seized, or found
aboard any ship or ships which shall be surprized or taken as prize,
shall be duly preserved, and the very originals shall by the
commanding officer of the ship which shall take such prize, be sent
entirely, and without fraud, to the court of the admiralty, or such
other court of commissioners, as shall be authorized to determine
whether such prize be lawful capture, there to be viewed, made use
of, and proceeded upon according to law, upon pain that every person
offending herein, shall forfeit and lose his share of the capture,
and shall suffer such further punishment, as the nature and degree
of his offense shall be found to deserve, and the court martial
shall impose.

No person in or belonging to the fleet shall take out of any
prize, or ship seized for prize, any money, plate, or goods, unless
it shall be necessary for the better securing thereof, or for the
necessary use and service of any of His Majesty's ships or vessels
of war, before the same be adjudged lawful prize in some admiralty
court; but the full and entire account of the whole, without
embezzlement, shall be brought in, and judgment passed entirely upon
the whole without fraud, upon pain that every person offending hemin
shall forfeit and lose his share of the capture, and suffer such
further punishment as shall be imposed by a court martial, or such
court of admiralty, according to the nature and degree of the
offense.

If any ship or vessel be taken as prize, none of the
officers, mariners, or other persons on board her, shall be stripped
of their clothes, or in any sort pillaged, beaten, or
evil-intreated, upon the pain that the person or persons so
offending, shall be liable to such punishment as a court martial
shall think fit to inflict.

Every flag officer, captain and commander in the fleet, who,
upon signal or order of fight, or sight of any ship or ships which
it may be his duty to engage, or who, upon likelihood of engagement,
shall not make the necessary preparations for fight, and shall not
in his own person, and according to his place, encourage the
inferior officers and men to fight courageously, shall suffer death,
or such other punishment, as from the nature and degree of the
offence a court martial shall deem him to deserve; and if any person
in the fleet shall treacherously or cowardly yield or cry for
quarter, every person so offending, and being convicted thereof by
the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

Every person in the fleet, who shall not duly observe the
orders of the admiral, flag officer, commander of any squadron or
division, or other his superior officer, for assailing, joining
battle with, or making defense against any fleet, squadron, or ship,
or shall not obey the orders of his superior officer as aforesaid in
the time of action, to the best of his power, or shall not use all
possible endeavours to put the same effectually into execution,
every person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the
sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death, or such other
punishment, as from the nature and degree of the offence a court
martial shall deem him to deserve.

Every person in the fleet, who through cowardice, negligence,
or disaffection, shall in time of action withdraw or keep back, or
not come into the fight or engagement, or shall not do his utmost to
take or destroy every ship which it shall be his duty to engage, and
to assist and relieve all and every of His Majesty's ships, or those
of his allies, which it shall be his duty to assist and relieve,
every such person so offending, and being convicted thereof by the
sentence of a court martial, shall suffer death.

Every person in the fleet, who though cowardice, negligence,
or disaffection, shall forbear to pursue the chase of any enemy,
pirate or rebel, beaten or flying; or shall not relieve or assist a
known friend in view to the utmost of his power; being convicted of
any such offense by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer
death.

If when action, or any service shall be commanded, any person
in the fleet shall presume or to delay or discourage the said action
or service, upon pretence of arrears of wages, or upon any pretence
whatsoever, every person so offending, being convicted thereof by
the sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death, or such other
punishment, as from the nature and degree of the offense a court
martial shall deem him to deserve.

Every person in or belonging to the fleet, who shall desert
or entice others so to do, shall suffer death, or such other
punishment as the circumstances of the offense shall deserve, and a
court martial shall judge fit: and if any commanding officer of any
of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war shall receive or entertain
a deserter from any other of His Majesty's ships or vessels, after
discovering him to be such deserter, and shall not with all
convenient speed give notice to the captain of the ship or vessel to
which such deserter belongs; or if the said ships or vessels are at
any considerable distance from each other, to the secretary of the
admiralty, or to the commander in chief; every person so offending,
and being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court martial,
shall be cashiered.

The officers and seamen of all ships appointed for convoy and
guard of merchant ships, or of any other, shall diligently attend
upon that charge, without delay, according to their instructions in
that behalf; and whosoever shall be faulty therein, and shall not
faithfully perform their duty, and defend the ships and goods in
their convoy, without either diverting to other parts or occasions,
or refusing or neglecting to fight in their defence, if they be
assailed, or running away cowardly, and submitting the ships in
their convoy to peril and hazard; or shall demand or exact any money
or other reward from any merchant or master for convoying any ships
or vessels entrusted to their care, or shall misuse the masters or
mariners thereof; shall be condemned to make reparation of the
damage to the merchants, owners, and others, as the court of
admiralty shall adjudge, and also be punished criminally according
to the quality of their offences, be it by pains of death, or other
punishment, according as shall be adjudged fit by the court martial.

If any captain, commander, or other officer of any of His
Majesty's ships or vessels, shall receive on board, or permit to be
received on board such ship or vessel, any goods or merchandises
whatsoever, other than for the sole use of the ship or vessel,
except gold, silver, or jewels, and except the goods and
merchandisers belonging to any merchant, or other ship or vessel
which may be shipwrecked, or in imminent danger of being
shipwrecked, either on the high seas, or in any port, creek, or
harbour, in order to the preserving them for their proper owners,
and except such goods or merchandisers as he shall at any time be
ordered to take or receive on board by order of the lord high
admiral of Great Britain, or the commissioners for executing the
office of lord high admiral for the time being; every person so
offending, being convicted thereof by the sentence of the court
martial shall be cashiered, and be for ever afterwards rendered
incapable to serve in any place or office in the naval service of
His Majesty, his heirs and successors.

If any person in or belonging to the fleet shall make or
endeavor to make any mutinous assembly upon any pretence whatsoever,
every person offending herein, and being convicted thereof by the
sentence of the court martial, shall suffer death: and if any person
in or belonging to the fleet shall utter any words of sedition or
mutiny, he shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court
martial shall deem him to deserve: and if any officer, mariner, or
soldier on or belonging to the fleet, shall behave himself with
contempt to his superior officer, being in the execution of his
office, he shall be punished according to the nature of his offence
by the judgment of a court martial.

If any person in the fleet shall conceal any traitorous or
mutinous practice or design, being convicted thereof by the sentence
of a court martial, he shall suffer death, or any other punishment
as a court martial shall think fit; and if any person, in or
belonging to the fleet, shall conceal any traitorous or mutinous
words spoken by any, to the prejudice of His Majesty or government,
or any words, practice, or design, tending to the hindrance of the
service, and shall not forthwith reveal the same to the commanding
officer, or being present at any mutiny or sedition, shall not use
his utmost endeavours to suppress the same, he shall be punished as
a court martial shall think he deserves.

If any person in the fleet shall find cause of complaint of
the unwholesomeness of the victual, or upon other just ground, he
shall quietly make the same known to his superior, or captain, or
commander in chief, as the occasion may deserve, that such present
remedy may be had as the matter may require; and the said superior,
captain, or commander in chief, shall, as far as he is able, cause
the same to be presently remedied; and no person in the fleet, upon
any such or other pretence, shall attempt to stir up any
disturbance, upon pain of such punishment, as a court martial shall
think fit to inflict, according to the degree of the offence.

If any officer, mariner, soldier or other person in the
fleet, shall strike any of his superior officers, or draw, or offer
to draw, or lift up any weapon against him, being in the execution
of his office, on any pretence whatsoever, every such person being
convicted of any such offense, by the sentence of a court martial,
shall suffer death; and if any officer, mariner, soldier or other
person in the fleet, shall presume to quarrel with any of his
superior officers, being in the execution of his office, or shall
disobey any lawful command of any of his superior officers; every
such person being convicted of any such offence, by the sentence of
a court martial, shall suffer death, or such other punishment, as
shall, according to the nature and degree of his offence, be
inflicted upon him by the sentence of a court martial.

If any person in the fleet shall quarrel or fight with any
other person in the fleet, or use reproachful or provoking speeches
or gestures, tending to make any quarrel or disturbance, he shall,
upon being convicted thereof, suffer such punishment as the offence
shall deserve, and a court martial shall impose.

There shall be no wasteful expense of any powder, shot,
ammunition, or other stores in the fleet, nor any embezzlement
thereof, but the stores and provisions shall be careful preserved ,
upon pain of such punishment to be inflicted upon the offenders,
abettors, buyers and receivers (being persons subject to naval
discipline) as shall be by a court martial found just in that
behalf.

Every person in the fleet, who shall unlawfully burn or set
fire to any magazine or store of powder, or ship, boat, ketch, hoy
or vessel, or tackle or furniture thereunto belonging, not then
appertaining to an enemy, pirate, or rebel, being convicted of any
such offence, by the sentence of a court martial, shall suffer
death.

Care shall be taken in the conducting and steering of any of
His Majesty's ships, that through willfulness, negligence, or other
defaults, no ship be stranded, or run upon any rocks or sands, or
split or hazarded, upon pain, that such as shall be found guilty
therein, be punished by death, or such other punishment, as the
offence by a court martial shall be judged to deserve.

No person in or belonging to the fleet shall sleep upon his
watch, or negligently perform the duty imposed on him, or forsake
his station, upon pain of death, or such other punishment as a court
martial shall think fit to impose, and as the circumstances of the
case shall require.

All murders committed by any person in the fleet, shall be
punished with death by the sentence of a court martial.

If any person in the fleet shall commit the unnatural and
detestable sin of buggery and sodomy with man or beast, he shall be
punished with death by the sentence of a court martial.

All robbery committed by any person in the fleet, shall be
punished with death, or otherwise, as a court martial, upon
consideration of the circumstances, shall find meet.

Every officer or other person in the fleet, who shall
knowingly make or sign a false muster or muster book, or who shall
command, counsel, or procure the making or signing thereof, or who
shall aid or abet any other person in the making or signing thereof,
shall, upon proof of any such offence being made before a court
martial, be cashiered, and rendered incapable of further employment
in His Majesty's naval service.

No provost martial belonging to the fleet shall refuse to
apprehend any criminal, whom he shall be authorized by legal warrant
to apprehend, or to receive or keep any prisoner committed to his
charge, or willfully suffer him to escape, being once in his
custody, or dismiss him without lawful order, upon pain of such
punishment as a court martial shall deem him fit to deserve; and all
captains, officers, and others in the fleet, shall do their
endeavour to detect, apprehend, and bring to punishment all
offenders, and shall assist the officers appointed for that purpose
therein, upon pain of being proceeded against, and punished by a
court martial, according to the nature and degree of the offence.

If any flag officer, captain, or commander, or lieutenant
belonging to the fleet, shall be convicted before a court martial of
behaving in a scandalous, infamous, cruel, oppressive, or fraudulent
manner, unbecoming the character of an officer, he shall be
dismissed from His Majesty's service.

Every person being in actual service and full pay, and part
of the crew in or belonging to any of His Majesty's ships or vessels
of war, who shall be guilty of mutiny, desertion, or disobedience to
any lawful command, in any part of His Majesty's dominions on shore,
when in actual service relative to the fleet, shall be liable to be
tried by a court martial, and suffer the like punishment for every
such offence, as if the same had been committed at sea on board any
of His Majesty's ships or vessels of war.

If any person who shall be in the actual service and full pay
of His Majesty' ships and vessels of war, shall commit upon the
shore, in any place or places out of His Majesty's dominions, any of
the crimes punishable by these articles and orders, the person so
offending shall be liable to be tried and punished for the same, in
like manner, to all intents and purposes, as if the same crimes had
been committed at sea, on board any of His Majesty's ships or
vessels of war.

All other crimes not capital committed by any person or
persons in the fleet, which are not mentioned in this act, or for
which no punishment is hereby directed to be inflicted, shall be
punished by the laws and customs in such cases used at sea.